Vehicles navigate on potholes at Banashankari in Bengaluru.
Credit: DH File Photo
Bengaluru: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has decided to deploy a new machine capable of repairing road patches instantly using cold mix.
The civic body will spend Rs 2.5 crore to deploy the truck-mounted ‘Jet Patcher’, which could be used even during the monsoon season.
While Mumbai and Chennai municipal authorities use similar machines to maintain roads, the BBMP has engaged multiple agencies to fill up potholes in all eight zones by procuring cold mix at Rs 17.5 crore.
The civic body uses an automated machine called Python 5000 for road maintenance. BBMP’s engineer in chief BS Prahlad said the Jet Patcher and Python are the same machines, but with different features.
“Payment to Jet Patcher will be done based on the number of potholes the machine fills. It can be used in all seasons, including the monsoon. On the other hand, Python uses hot mix, and the use is limited to the non-monsoon season. The payment is based on an annual maintenance contract (AMC),” he said.
To use Jet Patchers, the BBMP will pay Rs 2.5 crore to fill up 12,870 square metres of potholes over nine months. It would come down to Rs 1,942 per 1 square metre of pothole, which is slightly higher than the Rs 1,200 it pays currently.
Capable of filling potholes in 10 minutes, the Jet Patcher uses a blower to clear debris and water from the pothole, and dumps tar and cold mix to level up the ground. The BBMP had earmarked funds for the machine in the 2023-24 budget. Separately, it uses its existing batch mix plant at Kannur to fill potholes.
‘Quick-fix solution’
Unhappy with the BBMP’s quick-fix solution for road maintenance, VK Srivatsa, a resident of Hemmigepura, said the wet mix used by the civic body has been washed away by rain.
“We have been asking the BBMP engineers to repair the roads systematically. The contractor resurfaces the stretches without even milling the road. The engineers concerned are not present during the work and hence, the repair work does not last long,” he said.